Does the fire department in West Hollywood mostly fight fires?

Short answer: No, almost 80% of calls were for medical assistance in fiscal year 2018

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West Hollywood is served by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. There are three shifts of 20 personnel, housed at two fire stations in the city.

Number of calls

The fire department went out on over 7,000 calls in fiscal year (FY) 2018, which ran from July 2017 to June 2018. That means almost 20 calls a day. The number of calls grew by a third between FY2011 and FY2018. When we say “calls,” we mean incidents the fire department responded to, not telephone calls to 911.

Note: The City’s semi-annual reports caution against using the numbers for comparisons or “inferences…as to whether fires, medical calls, false alarms, etc. are ‘up’ or ‘down’.” They don’t say why. Sources: City of West Hollywood, semi-annual and monthly public safety reports; our analysis.

Types of calls

There were 85 calls for real fires in West Hollywood in FY2018, or one every four days on average. The number has ranged between 70 and 110 in recent years. Fire calls represented between 1% and 2% of total calls. We believe fire-call percentages are in the same range in Culver City, Santa Monica, and maybe Beverly Hills (our Beverly Hills data is dated).

Most calls were not for fires, but for medical emergencies. There more than 5,500 medical calls in FY2018, almost 80% of the total. The fire department handled 15 medical calls a day on average. The number of medical calls grew faster than total calls in the last few years. Medical calls made up 68% of total calls in FY2011 versus 78% in FY2018.

Sources for this chart: City of West Hollywood; our analysis. Sources for the preceding comparison: City of Beverly Hills “Organizational and Management Analysis and Strategic Plan for the City of Beverly Hills Fire Department,” October, 2010; City of Culver City, “Culver City Fire Department Statistics,” 2017; City of Santa Monica, Open Data, “Fire Calls for Service,” accessed August, 2018.

Service calls were 4% of the total. We don’t have a West Hollywood-specific list of service calls, but they could include tasks such as rescuing an animal, closing an open hydrant, or supporting another government agency.

A small number of calls — less than 1% — were for hazardous conditions or hazardous materials. Examples include arcing wires, downed power lines, and gas leaks.

The final category was “good intent” calls in which no emergency was found. One in six calls fell in this category in FY2018.

Types of fire calls

In calendar year 2017, there were 14 calls for building fires, 8 calls for vehicle fires, and 78 calls for other kinds of fires, such as cooking fires and trash fires. Building fire calls happen a little over once a month, vehicle fire calls occur less than once a month, and other fire calls happen more than once a week.

Note: We believe the numbers are roughly similar in Culver City and Beverly Hills. Sources: Same as above.

The fire department estimates the dollar value of damage to property and contents caused by some fires. Over the last eight years, the property loss averaged $1.4 million annually and lost contents averaged $0.4 million, for a total of $1.8 million a year.

Types of medical calls

In a recent month (July 2018), the fire department helped a total of 463 patients, or about 15 a day. About 70% of them were transported to the hospital.

The chart below shows some of the reasons the patients needed help. For example, 11% of patients were unconscious, 7% complained of chest pain, and 6% had difficulty breathing. Assault, traffic collision, overdose, and a psychological issue were each listed as reasons for 4% or 5% of patients.

Note: Each patient is counted in only one category. Sources: Same as above.

Response time to calls

We don’t have much data about fire department response times in West Hollywood, but we do have numbers for 2015. For the year as a whole, the average response time for medical calls (EMS) was about four minutes. The response time for fires averaged four-and-a-half minutes. The response time for other kinds of calls was about four minutes and fifteen seconds.

Sources: Same as above.

Inspections

When we gathered the fire-department-call data from old reports, another number caught our attention: inspections. The reported number of inspections in calendar year 2017 was about 70% lower than the reported total for 2010. It went from 1452 in 2010 to 420 in 2017. We don’t know if the difference is real or important.

Short answer: No, almost 80% of calls were for medical assistance in fiscal year 2018|
West Hollywood is served by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. There are three shifts of 20 personnel, housed at two fire stations in the city.
Number of calls
The fire department went out on over...

DavidWarrendavid_warren@post.harvard.eduAdministratorWeHo by the Numbers

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reports using data to explore city government policy, performance, and community issues. Focused on West Hollywood (WeHo), Beverly Hills, Culver City, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. Researched and written by David Warren as a private citizen. This is not a government website.